Costières de Nîmes AOC

The wine-growing area Costières de Nîmes is entirely in the north east of the wine-growing region of Languedoc and extends south and east of the city of Nîmes and north of the Camargue. The area forms the transition to wine-growing region of Rhône and heard ( wine ) - geographically as well as wine law or in the valley of the Rhone. The appellation Clairette de Bellegarde is an enclave within the area. The area received on 4 July 1986, the name Costières du Gard the status of an Appellation d' Origine ( AOC briefly ) but was renamed in 1989 in the now valid name to avoid confusion with the local wine Vin de Pays du Gard.

Since July 19, 2004 was officially recognized that the Costières de Nîmes in its typicality rather corresponds to a Rhônewein. The Enclave Clairette de Bellegarde but is still attributed to the wine growing region of Languedoc.

The vineyards of the area include 25,000 hectares theoretically approved area in 24 municipalities in the department of Gard, of which only about half is planted. Approximately 4,600 acres of the stocked area has AOC status, the other 7000 acres are marketed as Vin de Pays or table wine, because there the high standards of the appellation have not yet met.

The terrain is flat; The vineyard is located at an altitude between 20 and 100 m above sea level. NN. The soils consist of up to 12 m thick Villafranchian - gravels. These are Pleistocene gravel deposits of the Rhône, the Gardon and partly also of the Durance. This Villafranchian - gravel and the special climate of the area Costière du Gard are the basics of the terroir of Costières de Nîmes. The approved vineyards spread over the municipalities Aubord, Beaucaire, Beauvoisin, Bellegarde, Bernis, Bezouce, Bouillargues, Le Callar, Caissargues, Garons, Générac, Jonquières -Saint -Vincent, Lédenon, Beaucaire, Meynes, Milhaud, Nîmes, Redessan, Rodhillan, Saint Gilles, Sernhac, Uchaud, Vauvert and Vestric -et- Candiac.

Red wine ( 51%) and rosé ( 45.5 %) account for over 96 % of production. They are made from the Carignan, Cinsault (maximum 40%), Grenache (at least 25 %), and Mourvedre and Syrah (at least 20%) blended. In Rosé and a 10 -percent share of white grape varieties are allowed. The majority of rosé wines obtained with the Saignée method.

The white wine is mainly composed of the Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Roussanne. In addition, Clairette Blanche are still, Bourboulenc, Ugni Blanc (currently a maximum of 30 %, but no longer permitted as of the 2010 harvest), Macabeo and Vermentino (also called role ), approved.